[ Photo: Sampradaya Sun ]

Jul 14, 2016 — JAGANNATHA PURI, ORISSA —

All arrangements have been made to a tee for Thursday's Bahuda Yatra, the annual homebound journey of Lord Jagannath, His elder brother Balabhadra and sister Devi Subhadra, from Gundicha Temple towards Jagannath Temple in Puri. The Deities began Their nine-day sojourn to the Gundicha Temple on July 6th, Rath Yatra.

It will be a testing time for the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) to ensure smooth conduct of rituals of the Deities on Bahuda Yatra, as the shrine body drew flak for its failure to streamline the rituals on Rath Yatra. The chariots of the Deities had failed to reach Gundicha Temple on July 6 due to the delay in solemnization of the rituals.

On Thursday, the temple body reportedly held a meeting with servitors of different Nijogs (associations) for timely completion of rituals. "We are hopeful that all the rituals will be completed as per the schedule," said the SJTA's Public Relations Officer, Laxmidhar Pujapanda.

[ Photo: Sampradaya Sun ]

Temple sources said at least 17 rituals will be performed at Gundicha Temple on Thursday for over 10 hours. While the first ritual is scheduled to start in the dawn around 4 am, pulling up of the chariots will mark the end of the day's ritual at 4 pm. Almost all the rituals of the Deities are tantamount to the daily chores of a human being -- the Lord's activities are absolute in the spiritual world, while the human's activities are understood to be a 'perverted reflection' here in the material world. "Just as a human being wakes up in the morning, brushes teeth, bathes, wears clothes and eat breakfast, the Deities too undergo similar chores by different sections of servitors," a shrine servitor said.

Though the Deities will ride on their chariots towards Jagannath Temple on Thursday, they will enter the shrine on the evening of July 17th. On July 15, the Deities will sport gold jewelries on Their chariots and give darshan to lakhs of devotees in front of the shrine.

[ Photo: Sampradaya Sun ]